Blog by Ernst de Haan (from .nl). What is there to know about me? Above all, that I am a christian. On this blog I write mostly about web development, UNIX, Apple, Java, XML and web design.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) annoyances

Here's my list of some annoyances I have with Mac OS X 10.4 (a.k.a. Tiger). I have not switched to Leopard yet, but I doubt whether the issues I list here have been fixed in Leopard (if you know, please add a comment.)

Mail.app

When replying to a sent mail, my own e-mail address is in the To: field. D'oh!

There is no easy way to see which e-mails are currently being sent or are scheduled to be sent at a later point in time.

Create a new message. Edit the To: field. Type a name followed by a less-than sign (

Suspend / Screen locking

After suspending the machine (e.g. close the MacBook (Pro) lid) the screen gets locked, that's how I configured my machine. If I change monitor (and hence resolution) while the machine is suspended (e.g. close the MacBook Pro lid and then insert a DVI cable) the screen looks distorted, while the login box on it looks OK.

Sometimes after suspending the machine, it won't come back. The mouse pointer shows, but no login dialog. And every keypress triggers a beep.

Software update

Run Software Update. If there is an update that requires a restart, the program will show a dialog asking you to choose Restart or Shutdown? Instead, try shutting down the machine using the key combo Ctrl-Alt-Cmd-Eject. A new dialog window will show up saying that the Software Update program cancelled the shutdown. Why?!

Spotlight

Spotlight windows are anonymous. They don't show up when using Cmd-Tab. Why?Fixed in Leopard: Yes.

Java

For developers like myself, Java 6 support is a must, see this Sun Babelfish blog entry: 13949712720901ForOSX.Work-around: Although Apple does not provide a Java 6 port, a work-around based on the FreeBSD JDK is underway.Fixed in Leopard: No